Notes on
the Correct Way to Present the Jews and Judaism in Preaching and Catechesis in
the Roman Catholic Church

Preliminary considerations

On 6 March 1982, Pope John Paul II told delegates of episcopal conferences
and other experts meeting in Rome to study relations between the Church and
Judaism: "...you yourselves were concerned, during your sessions, with
Catholic teaching and catechesis regarding Jews and Judaism... We should aim, in
this field, that Catholic teaching at its different levels, in catechesis to
children and young people, presents Jews and Judaism not only in an honest and
objective manner, free from prejudices and without any offenses, but also with
full awareness of the heritage common" to Jews and Christians.

In this passage, so charged with meaning, the Holy Father plainly drew
inspiration from the Council Declaration <Nostra Aetate>, par. 4, which
says:

"All should take pains, then, lest in catechetical instruction and in
the preaching of God's Word they teach anything out of harmony with the truth of
the Gospel and the spirit of Christ"; as also from these words: "Since
the spiritual patrimony common to Christians and Jews is thus so great, this
sacred Synod wishes to foster and recommend mutual understanding and
respect..."

In the same way, the <Guidelines and Suggestions for implementing the
conciliar declaration Nostra Aetate> (par. 4) ends its chapter III, entitled
"Teaching and education", which lists a number of practical things to
be done, with this recommendation:

"Information concerning these questions is important at all levels of
Christian instruction and education. Among sources of information, special
attention should be paid to the following:

1. In <Nostra Aetate>, par. 4, the Council speaks of the
"spiritual bonds linking" Jews and Christians and of the "great
spiritual patrimony" common to both and it further asserts that "the
Church of Christ acknowledges that, according to the mystery of God's saving
design, the beginning of her faith and her election are already found among the
patriarchs, Moses and the prophets".

2. Because of the unique relations that exist between Christianity and
Judaism—"linked together at the very level of their identity" (John
Paul 11, 6 March, 1982)—relations "founded on the design of the God of
the Covenant" (ibid.), the Jews and Judaism should not occupy an occasional
and marginal place in catechesis: their presence there is essential and should
be organically integrated.

3. This concern for Judaism in Catholic teaching has not merely a historical
or archeological foundation. As the Holy Father said in the speech already
quoted, after he had again mentioned the "common patrimony" of the
Church and Judaism as "considerable": "To assess it carefully in
itself and with due awareness of the faith and religious life of the Jewish
people <as they are professed and practiced still today>, can greatly help
us to understand better certain aspects of the life of the Church"
(underlining added). It is a question then of <pastoral> concern for a
still living reality closely related to the Church. The Holy Father has stated
this permanent reality of the Jewish people in a remarkable theological formula,
in his allocution to the Jewish community of West Germany at Mainz, on 17
November 1980: "...the people of God of the Old Covenant, which has never
been revoked...".

4. Here we should recall the passage in which the <Guidelines and
Suggestions> (1) tried to define the fundamental condition of dialogue:
"respect for the other as he is", knowledge of the "basic
components of the religious tradition of Judaism" and again learning
"by what essential traits the Jews define themselves in the light of their
own religious experience" (Introd.).

5. The singular character and the difficulty of Christian teaching about Jews
and Judaism lies in this, that it needs. to balance a number of pairs of ideas
which express the relation between the two economies of the Old and New
Testament:

Promise and Fulfillment Continuity and Newness Singularity
and Universality Uniqueness and Exemplary Nature.

This means that the theologian and the catechist who deals with the subject
needs to show in his practice of teaching that:

—promise and fulfillment throw light on each other;

—newness lies in a metamorphosis of what was there before;

—the singularity of the people of the Old Testament is not exclusive and is
open, in the divine vision, to a universal extension;

—the uniqueness of the Jewish people is meant to have the force of an
example. 6. Finally, "work that is of poor quality and lacking in precision
would be extremely detrimental" to Judaeo-Christian dialogue (John Paul II,
speech of 6 March 1982). But it would be above all detrimental—since we are
talking of teaching and education—to Christian identity (ibid.).

7. "In virtue of her divine mission, the Church" which is to be
"the all-embracing means of salvation" in which alone "the
fullness of the means of salvation can be obtained" (<Unit. Red.> 3),
"must of her nature proclaim Jesus Christ to the world" (cf.
<Guidelines and Suggestions>, 1). Indeed we believe that it is through him
that we go to the Father (cf. In 14:6) "and this is eternal life, that they
know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent" (In
17:3).

Jesus affirms (ibid. 10:16) that "there shall be one flock and one
shepherd". Church and Judaism cannot then be seen as two parallel ways of
salvation and the Church must witness to Christ as the Redeemer for all,
"while maintaining the strictest respect for religious liberty in line with
the teaching of the Second Vatican Council (Declaration <Dignitatis
Humanae>" (<Guidelines and Suggestions>, I).

8. The urgency and importance of precise, objective and rigorously accurate
teaching on Judaism for our faithful follows too from the danger of
anti-Semitism which is always ready to reappear under different guises. The
question is not merely to uproot from among the faithful the remains of
anti-Semitism still to be found here and there, but much rather to arouse in
them through educational work, an exact knowledge of the wholly unique
"bond" (<Nostra Aetate> 4) which joins us as a Church to the
Jews and to Judaism. In this way, they would learn to appreciate and love the
latter, who have been chosen by God to prepare the coming of Christ and have
preserved everything that was progressively revealed and given in the course of
that preparation, notwithstanding their difficulty in recognizing in Him their
Messiah.

II. Relations between Old and New Testament

1. Our aim should be to show the unity of biblical Revelation (O. T. and N.
T.) and of the divine plan, before speaking of each historical event, so as to
stress that particular events have meaning when seen in history as a whole—from
creation to fulfillment. This history concerns the whole human race and
especially believers. Thus the definitive meaning of the election of Israel does
not become clear except in the light of the complete fulfillment (Rom 9-11), and
the election in Jesus Christ is still better understood with reference to the
announcement and the promise (cf. Heb 4: 1-11).

2. We are dealing with singular happenings which concern a singular nation
but are destined, in the sight of God who reveals his purpose, to take on
universal and exemplary significance.

The aim is moreover to present the events of the Old Testament not as
concerning only the Jews but also as touching us personally. Abraham is truly
the father of our faith (cf. Rom 4:11-12; Roman Canon: <patriarchae nostri
Abrahae>). And it is said (1 Cor 10:1): "Our fathers were all under the
cloud and all passed through the sea". The patriarchs, prophets and other
personalities of the Old Testament have been venerated and always will be
venerated as saints in the liturgical tradition of the Oriental Church as also
of the Latin Church

3. From the unity of the divine plan derives the problem of the relation
between the Old and New Testaments. The Church already from apostolic times (cf.
1 Cor 10:11; Heb 10:1) and then constantly in tradition resolved—this problem
by means of typology, which emphasizes the primordial value that the Old
Testament must have in the Christian view. Typology however makes many people
uneasy and is perhaps the sign of a problem unresolved.

4. Hence in using typology, the teaching and practice of which we have
received from the Liturgy and from the Fathers of the Church, we should be
careful to avoid any transition from the Old to the New Testament which might
seem merely a rupture. The Church, in the spontaneity of the Spirit which
animates her, has vigorously condemned the attitude of Marcion (2) and always
opposed his dualism.

5. It should also be emphasized that typological interpretation consists in
reading the Old Testament as preparation and, in certain aspects, outline and
foreshadowing of the New (cf. e.g., Heb 5:5-10 etc.). Christ is henceforth the
key and point of reference to the Scriptures: "the rock was Christ" (1
Cor 10:4).

6. It is true then, and should be stressed, that the Church and Christians
read the Old Testament in the light of the event of the dead and risen Christ
and that on these grounds there is a Christian reading of the Old Testament
which does not necessarily coincide with the Jewish reading. Thus Christian
identity and Jewish identity should be carefully distinguished in their
respective reading of the Bible. But this detracts nothing from the value of the
Old Testament in the Church and does nothing to hinder Christians from profiting
discerningly from traditions of Jewish reading.

7. Typological reading only manifests the unfathomable riches of the Old
Testament, its inexhaustible content and the mystery of which it is full, and
should not lead us to forget that it retains its own value as Revelation that
the New Testament often does no more than resume (cf. Mk 12:29-31). Moreover,
the New Testament itself demands to be read in the light of the Old. Primitive
Christian catechesis constantly had recourse to this (cf. e.g., 1 Cor 5:6-8; 10:
1-11).

8. Typology further signifies reaching towards the accomplishment of the
divine plan, when "God will be all in all" (1 Cor 15:28). This holds
true also for the Church which, realized already in Christ, yet awaits its
definitive perfecting as the Body of Christ. The fact that the Body of Christ is
still tending towards its full stature (cf. Eph 4:12-19) take' nothing from the
value of being a Christian. So also the calling of the patriarchs and the Exodus
from Egypt do not lose their importance and value in God's design from being at
the same time intermediate stages (cf. e.g. <Nostra Aetate>, 4).

9. The Exodus, for example, represents an experience of salvation and
liberation that is not complete in itself, but has in it, over and above its own
meaning, the capacity to be developed further. Salvation and liberation are
already accomplished in Christ and gradually realized by the sacraments in the
Church. This makes way for the fulfillment of God's design, which awaits its
final consummation with the return of Jesus as Messiah, for which we pray each
day. The Kingdom, for the coming of which we also pray each day, will be finally
established. With salvation and liberation the elect and the whole of creation
will be transformed in Christ (Rom 8: 19-23).

10. Furthermore, in underlining the eschatological dimension of Christianity
we shall reach a greater awareness that the people of God of the Old and the New
Testament are tending towards a like end in the future: the coming or return of
the Messiah—even if they start from two different points of view. It is more
clearly understood that the person of the Messiah is not only a point of
division for the people of God but also a point of convergence (cf. <Sussidi
per l'ecumenismo> of the diocese of Rome, n. 140). Thus it can be said that
Jews and Christians meet in a comparable hope founded on the same promise made
to Abraham (cf. Gen 12:1-3; Heb 6:13-18).

11. Attentive to the same God who has spoken, hanging on the same word, we
have to witness to one same memory and one common hope in Him who is the master
of history. We must also accept our responsibility to prepare the world for the
coming of the Messiah by working together for social justice, respect for the
rights of persons and nations and for social and international reconciliation.
To this we are driven, Jews and Christians, by the command to love our neighbor,
by a common hope for the Kingdom of God and by the great heritage of the
Prophets. Transmitted soon enough by catechesis, such a conception would teach
young Christians in a practical way to cooperate with Jews, going beyond simple
dialogue (cf. Guidelines, IV).

III. Jewish roots of Christianity

12 Jesus was and always remained a Jew, his ministry was deliberately limited
"to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. (Mt 15:24). Jesus is fully a man
of his time, and of his environment—the Jewish Palestinian one of the first
century, the anxieties and hopes of which he shared. This cannot but underline
both the reality of the Incarnation and the very meaning of the history of
salvation, as it has been revealed in the Bible (cf. Rom 1:3-4; Gal 4:4-5)

13. Jesus' relations with biblical law and its more or less traditional
interpretations are undoubtedly complex and he showed great liberty towards it
(cf. the "antitheses" of the Sermon on the Mount: Mt. 5:21-48, bearing
in mind the exegetical difficulties, his attitude to rigorous observance of the
Sabbath: Mk 3:1-6, etc.).

But there is no doubt that he wished to submit himself to the law (cf. Gal
4:4), that he was circumcised and presented in the Temple like any Jew of his
time (cf. Lk 2:21, 22-24), that he was trained in the law's observance. He
extolled respect for it (cf. Mt 5:17-20) and invited obedience to it (cf. Mt
8:4). The rhythm of his life was marked by observance of pilgrimages on great
feasts, even from his infancy (cf. Lk 2:41-50; Jn 2:13, 7:10 etc.). The
importance of the cycle of the Jewish feasts has been frequently underlined in
the Gospel of John (cf. 2:13; 5:1; 7:2, 10, 37; 10:22; 12:1; 13:1; 18:28; 19:42
etc.).

14. It should be noted also that Jesus often taught in the Synagogues (cf. Mt
4:23; 9:35; Lk 4: 15-18; In 18:20 etc.) and in the Temple (cf. Jn 18:20 etc.),
which he frequented as did the disciples even after the Resurrection (cf. e.g.,
Acts 2:46; 3:1; 21:26 etc.). He wished to put in the context of synagogue
worship the proclamation of his Messiahship (cf. Lk 4:16-21). But above all he
wished to achieve the supreme act of the gift of himself in the setting of the
domestic liturgy of the Passover, or at least of the paschal festivity (cf. Mk
14:1, 12 and parallels, Jn 18:28). This also allows of a better understanding of
the 'memorial' character of the Eucharist.

15. Thus the Son of God is incarnate in a people and a human family (cf. Gal
4:4; Rom 9:5). This takes away nothing, quite the contrary, from the fact that
he was born for all men (Jewish shepherds and pagan wise men are found at his
crib: Lk 2:8-20, Mt 2:1-12) and died for all men (at the foot of the cross there
are Jews, among them Mary and John: Jn 19:25-27, and pagans like the centurion:
Mk 15:39 and parallels). Thus he made two peoples one in his flesh (cf. Eph
2:14-17). This explains why with the <Ecclesia ex gentibus> we have, in
Palestine and elsewhere, an <Ecclesia ex circumcisione>, of which Eusebius
for example speaks (H.E. IV, 5).

16. His relations with the Pharisees were not always or wholly polemical. Of
this there are many proofs:

—It is Pharisees who warn Jesus of the risks he is running (Lk 13:31)

—Some Pharisees are praised—e.g. "the scribe" of Mk 12:34;

—Jesus eats with Pharisees (Lk 7:36; 14: 1).

17. Jesus shares, with the majority of Palestinian Jews of that time, some
pharisaic doctrines: the resurrection of the body; forms of piety, like
alms-giving, prayer, fasting (cf. Mt 6: 1-18) and the liturgical practice of
addressing God as Father; the priority of the commandment to love God and our
neighbor (cf. Mk 12:28-34). This is so also with Paul (cf. Acts 23:8), who
always considered his membership of the Pharisees as a title of honor (cf. ibid.
23:6; 26:5; Phil 3:5).

18. Paul also, like Jesus himself, used methods of reading and interpreting
which were common to the Pharisees of Scripture and of teaching his disciples
their time. This applies to the use of parables in Jesus' ministry as also to
the method of Jesus and Paul of supporting a conclusion with a quotation from
Scripture.

19. It is noteworthy too that the Pharisees are not mentioned in accounts of
the Passion. Gamaliel (Acts 5:34-39) defends the apostles in a meeting of the
Sanhedrin. An exclusively negative picture of the Pharisees is likely to be
inaccurate and unjust (cf. <Guidelines>, 1 Note, cf. AAS, loc. cit. p.
76). If in the Gospels and elsewhere in the New Testament there are all sorts of
unfavorable references to the Pharisees, they should be seen against the
background of a complex and diversified movement. Criticisms of various types of
Pharisees are moreover not lacking in rabbinical sources (cf. the <Babylon
Talmud>, the <Sotah> treatise 22b, etc.). "Phariseeism" in
the pejorative sense can be rife in any religion. It may also be stressed that,
if Jesus shows himself severe towards the Pharisees, it is because he is closer
to them than to other contemporary Jewish groups (cf. supra n. 17).

20. All this should help us to understand better what St. Paul says (Rom
11:16 95.) about the "root" and the branches". The Church and
Christianity, for all their novelty, find their origin in the Jewish milieu of
the first century of our era, and more deeply still in the "design of
God" (<Nostra Aetate>, 4), realized in the Patriarchs, Moses and the
Prophets (ibid.), down to its consummation in Christ Jesus.

IV. Jews in the New Testament

21. The <Guidelines> already say (note 1) that "the formula 'the
Jews' sometimes according to the context, means 'the leaders of the Jews' or
'the adversaries of Jesus', terms which express better the thought of the
evangelist and avoid appearing to arraign the Jewish people as such".

An objective presentation of the role of the Jewish people in the New
Testament should take account of these various facts:

A. The Gospels are the outcome of long and complicated editorial work. The
dogmatic constitution <Dei Verbum>, following the Pontifical Biblical
Commission's Instruction <Sancta Mater Ecclesia>, distinguishes three
stages: "The sacred authors wrote the four Gospels, selecting some things
from the many which had been handed on by word of mouth or in writing, reducing
some of them to a synthesis, explicating some things in view of the situation of
their Churches, and preserving the form of proclamation, but always in such
fashion that they told us the honest truth about Jesus" (n. 19).

Hence it cannot be ruled out that some references hostile or less than
favorable to the Jews: have their historical context in conflicts between the
nascent Church and the Jewish community. Certain controversies reflect
Christian-Jewish relations long after the time of Jesus.

To establish this is of capital importance if we wish to bring out the
meaning of certain Gospel texts for the Christians of today.

All this should be taken into account when preparing catechesis and homilies
for the last weeks of Lent and Holy Week (cf. already <Guidelines> II, and
now also <Sussidi per l'ecumenismo nella diocesi di Roma>, 1982, 144 b).

B. It is clear on the other hand that there were conflicts between Jesus and
certain categories of Jews of his time, among them Pharisees, from the beginning
of his ministry (cf. Mk 2: 1-11, 24; 3:6 etc.).

C. There is moreover the sad fact that the majority of the Jewish people and
its authorities did not believe in Jesus—a fact not merely of history but of
theological bearing, of which St. Paul tries hard to plumb the meaning (Rom
chap. 9-11).

D. This fact, accentuated as the Christian mission developed, especially
among the pagans, led inevitably to a rupture between Judaism and the young
Church, now irreducibly separated and divergent in faith, and this stage of
affairs is reflected in the texts of the New Testament and particularly in the
Gospels. There is no question of playing down or glossing over this rupture,
that could only prejudice the identity of either side. Nevertheless it certainly
does not cancel the spiritual "bond" of which the Council speaks
(<Nostra Aetate>, 4) and which we propose to dwell on here.

E. Reflecting on this in the light of Scripture, notably of the chapters
cited from the epistle to the Romans, Christians should never forget that the
faith is a free gift of God (cf. Rom 9: 12) and that we should never judge the
consciences of others. St. Paul's exhortation "do not boast" in your
attitude to "the root" (Rom 11:18) has its full point here.

F. There is no putting the Jews who knew Jesus and did not believe in him, or
those who opposed the preaching of the apostles, on the same plane with Jews who
came after or those of today. If the responsibility of the former remains a
mystery hidden with God (cf. Rom 11:25), the latter are in an entirely different
situation. Vatican II in the declaration on <Religious Liberty> teaches
that "all men are to be immune from coercion... in such wise that in
matters religious no one is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his own
beliefs. Nor... restrained from acting in accordance with his own beliefs"
(n. 2). This is one of the bases—proclaimed by the Council—on which
Judaeo-Christian dialogue rests.

22. The delicate question of responsibility for the death of Christ must be
looked at from the standpoint of the conciliar declaration <Nostra
Aetate>, 4 and of <Guidelines and Suggestions> (par. III): "What
happened in (Christ's) passion cannot be blamed upon all the Jews then living
without distinction nor upon the Jews of today", especially since
"authorities of the Jews and those who followed their lead pressed for the
death of Christ". Again, further on: "Christ in his boundless love
freely underwent his passion and death because of the sins of all men, so that
all might attain salvation" (<Nostra Aetate>, 4). The Catechism of
the Council of Trent teaches that Christian sinners are more to blame for the
death of Christ than those few Jews who brought it about—they indeed
"knew not what they did" (cf. Lk 23:34)

V. The Liturgy

23. Jews and Christians find in the Bible the very substance of their
liturgy: for the proclamation of God's word response to it, prayer of praise and
intercession for the living and the dead, recourse to the divine mercy. The
Liturgy of the word in its own structure originates in Judaism. The prayer of
Hours and other liturgical texts and formularies have their parallels in Judaism
as do the very formulas of our most venerable prayers, among them the Our
Father. The eucharistic prayers also draw inspiration from models in the Jewish
tradition. As John Paul II said (Allocution of 6 March 1982): "...the faith
and religious life of the Jewish people as they are professed and practiced
still today, can greatly help us to understand better certain aspects of the
life of the Church. Such is the case of liturgy …"; 24. This is
particularly evident in the great feasts of the liturgical year, like the
Passover. Christians and Jews celebrate the Passover: the Jews, the historic
Passover looking towards the future; the Christians, the Passover accomplished
in the death and resurrection of Christ although still in expectation of the
final consummation (cf. supra n. 9). It is still the "memorial" which
comes to us from the Jewish tradition, with a specific content different in each
case. On either side, however, there is a like dynamism: for Christians it gives
meaning to the eucharistic celebration (cf. the antiphon <"O sacrum
convivium>), a paschal celebration and as such a making present of the past,
but experienced in the expectation of what is to come.

VI. Judaism and Christianity in history

25. The history of Israel did not end in 70 A.D. (cf. <Guidelines>,
II). It continued, especially in a numerous Diaspora which allowed Israel to
carry to the whole world a witness—often heroic—of its fidelity to the one
God and to "exalt him in the presence of all the living"
(<Tobit> 13:4), while preserving the memory of the land of their
forefathers at the heart of their hope (Passover <Seder>).

Christians are invited to understand this religious attachment which finds
its roots in Biblical tradition, without however making their own any particular
religious interpretation of this relationship (cf. <Declaration> of the US
Conference of Catholic Bishops, November 20, 1975).

The existence of the State of Israel and its political options should be
envisaged not in a perspective which is in itself religious, but in their
reference to the common principles of international law.

The permanence of Israel (while so many ancient peoples have disappeared
without trace) is a historic fact and a sign to be interpreted within God's
design. We must in any case rid ourselves of the traditional idea of a people
<punished>, preserved as a <living argument> for Christian
apologetic. It remains a chosen people, "the pure olive on which were
grafted the branches of the wild olive which are the gentiles" (John Paul
II, 6

March 1982, alluding to Rom 11.17-24). We must remember how much the balance
of relations between Jews and Christians over two thousand years has been
negative. We must remind ourselves how the permanence of Israel is accompanied
by a continuous spiritual fecundity, in the rabbinical period, in the Middle
Ages and in modern times, taking its start from a patrimony which we long
shared, so much so that "the faith and religious life of the Jewish people
as they are professed and practiced still today, can greatly help us to
understand better certain aspects of the life of the Church" (John Paul II,
6 March 1982). Catechesis should on the other hand help in understanding the
meaning for the Jews of the extermination during the years 1939-1945, and its
consequences.

26. Education and catechesis should concern themselves with the problem of
racism, still active in different forms of anti-Semitism. The Council presented
it thus: "Moreover, (the Church) mindful of her common patrimony with the
Jews and motivated by the Gospel's spiritual love and by no political
considerations deplores the hatred, persecutions and displays of anti-Semitism
directed against the Jews at any time and from any source" (<Nostra
Aetate>, 4). The <Guidelines> comment: "the spiritual bonds and
historical links binding the Church to Judaism condemn (as opposed to the very
spirit of Christianity) all forms of anti-Semitism and discrimination, which in
any case the dignity of the human person alone would suffice to condemn"
(<Guidelines>, Preamble).

Conclusion

27. Religious teaching, catechesis and preaching should be a preparation not
only for objectivity, justice, tolerance but also for understanding and
dialogue. Our traditions are so related that they cannot ignore each other.
Mutual knowledge must be encouraged at every level. There is evident in
particular a painful ignorance of the history and traditions of Judaism, of
which only negative aspects and often caricature seem to form part of the stock
ideas of many Christians.

That is what these notes aim to remedy. This would mean that the Council text
and "<Guidelines and Suggestions>" would be more easily and
faith fully put into practice.

Johannes Cardinal Willebrands (President)

Pierre Duprey (Vice-President)

Jorge Mejia (Secretary)

Endnotes

1) We continue to use the expression <Old Testament> because it is
traditional (cf. already 2 Cor 3:14) but also because "Old" does not
mean "out of date" or "outworn". In any case, it is the
permanent value of the O.T. as a source of Christian revelation that is
emphasized here (cf. <Dei Verbum>, 3).

2) A man of gnostic tendency who in the second century rejected the Old
Testament and part of the New as the work of an evil god, a demiurge. The Church
reacted strongly against this heresy (cf. Irenaeus).

Taken from:
L'Osservatore Romano
Weekly Edition in English
1 July 1985

L'Osservatore Romano is the newspaper of the Holy See.
The Weekly Edition in English is published for the US by: